


HOUR ZERO ☾ trollhunters

by midnightspxce (orphan_account)



Category: Trollhunters - Daniel Kraus & Guillermo del Toro
Genre: Multi, Next Generation, Second Generation, fluffy parent relationships, nextgen, timeline jumping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-03-08 22:06:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18903577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/midnightspxce
Summary: ❝ IN HOUR ZERO, YOU CAN USE ALL THE HANDS YOU CAN GET ❞Losing Betsy was one thing, losing her amulet's powers was another. But losing her timeline, her family, her friends, was something she refused to stand by and let happen. But, when a faulty amulet has finally had enough of her and sends her spiralling into the past, what is a second-generation TrollHunter to do?





	1. Chapter 1

_"Hush little baby don't say a word, papa's gonna buy you a mockingbird..."_

The clattering of the sword on the ground quickly snapped Elisia back into battle as she surveyed her very limited options. Dazed and injured in more ways than one, the changeling (formerly known as the doctor who worked in her grandmother's office, her pediatrician of all things) watched in earnest as she fell backwards after trying to stand up on her own, skittering across the hard concrete. With the sword went her armor, in a glow of purple she was back in her street clothes, amulet in hand.

It seemed to laugh at her too, pulsating purple. Grimacing, she scooted herself backwards. To put distance between yourself and your enemy was always the first thing to do.

"Poor little trollhunter, what is a girl to do?" He cooed, coming ever closer as she dragged herself up from her contorted position in the shadows. "Run back to daddy, have him come save you?" A dagger appeared in his hand, holding it menacingly as he came closer and closer. Elisia's futile rocks being thrown not keeping him any further away from her as he let out a dark and low chuckle at her attempts.

"I can save myself!" She shouted, pulling her scarred feet in. In truth, Elisia wanted nothing but to be back with her parents, her mother telling her she tried her best as she brushed out her hair, her father always back with comforting words. She wanted to be their daughter again, their baby girl, the one they'd do anything to protect from harm.

 However, this situation didn't call for running away. Her tormentor was not afraid of her.

Not afraid of the little girl she was, the little girl everyone assumed she was. The one no one thought could be the trollhunter. The one that everyone was skeptical about and tsked at her failures without even a nod at her accomplishments.

But it was always time to get back up. Time to show the world who was boss, who was the trollhunter. Who was meant to save them.

Underneath this ever-standing bridge, Elisia wasn't about to allow herself to die.

 _"F-For the end of the troll war, moonlight is mine to command!"_   She uttered out. The amulet glowed purple, as hope filled her chest. This was how it was supposed to be, this is how it was meant to be. She would live to see another day.

To find Betsy and bring her home.

But it changed, as it always seemed to when the armor decided not to protect her from an attack, when she needed a sword and got nothing. Glowing a menacing red back to the blue of the previous trollhunter, it faded to no color at all in her hand. The faulty amulet did seem to love to play games with her, but this wasn't the time. Why was it doing this? What did it need with her to threaten her life like this?

"Well, it was fun while it lasted, trollhunter. Gareth will not be happy I took his kill like this, but no one likes a sore loser, yes?" He asked, as the amulet grew hot in her palm. Before she could do anything to block the thrusted dagger from going through her chest, everything was swirling in the three colors, blue, red and then a soft purple before finally fading to black.

_"And if that mockingbird don't sing, papa's gonna buy you a diamond ring"_

**__________**

**Welcome to Hour Zero, trollhunter.**

 


	2. 0.1 ( time )

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire leaves her two kids in charge of one changeling and a baby.

_"Time is not measured by clocks, but by moments."_

"Hold down the fort you two. Got it?" Her mother asked as she came down the stairs, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. Stunning as always, she was dressed a bit down this year, in a formal purple top and slacks, finished off by a pair of black flats. "Try not to destroy the house."

"Whatever do you mean by that, mom?" Alexander cheekily smiling from his spot on the couch, lazily leaning over the arm of the couch with a comic book in hand. Her mother, the one and only Claire Nunez, ruffled her son's hair dark brown hair knowingly. "Lisa and I would never."

"If I know your father, and I do, that means that  _his_  kids are bound to end up doing something while we're gone." She says, pressing a kiss to her daughter's forehead as she scribbled away at her math homework, amulet underneath the forsaken textbook. Algebra, something she despised since entering high school only a few months ago. "Jim! We've gotta go, unless you want to be late!"

"I'm coming Claire!" Something fell upstairs, causing a loud bump as a baby began crying. The youngest son of the Lake-Nunez family was now awake as all three of Lake-Nunezes downstairs cringed, before Claire gave them a knowing look.

"And watch over your brother. Don't let Chomsky and 'Rique get to him, got it?" It was more of a silly mantra that she'd often say to the two siblings, but she always had an edge to her voice when she said it. Their uncle, Enrique, had been switched out with a changeling before they were born, so it was always a warning, though since nothing had happened recently, Alexander and Elisia never took her hugely seriously. He slept most of the time anyways, and if not sleeping, in his baby swing with Alexander by the T.V.

And what could one changeling and a gnome do to a not-so helpless baby boy? Not much, as the two siblings found by experience.

"You've got it mom." They said in tandem as their father came down the stairs, if not a bit haphazardly, Jackson now quiet. 

"Be good you two." Jim quickly said, waving goodbye to his eldest children as the two left the house. It was anniversary night for the two, and that meant Alexander, Elisia and Jackson were left at home while their parents went out to a restaurant of their choice. It had taken a while, but once Alexander had turned ten, he and his seven year old sister were allowed home alone. At first, it had been mad freedom, but with age, they both had mellowed out considerably and often fell asleep while their parents were gone instead of being on sugar highs.

Elisia closed her textbook, fingering the amulet. It pulsated a dark purple, barely there at all. The last time she'd had the armor on, it wouldn't even allow her to form her sword. It made her anxious, knowing if she had to protect the house again, that she wouldn't be able to the full extent.

"Lisa!" Alexander yelled from the couch, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"What do you need, Lex?" Elisia shouted back. In was inefficent, but Alexander rarely moved once he sat down on that couch on anniversary nights. The 'Older Brother' clause in affect once again.

Executive power, apparently.

_Executive power her foot._

"It's 7:30, isn't Jackson due for a feeding soon?" He said teasingly.

Elisia rolled her eyes. Yes, it was time for their younger brother's feeding time. Groaning, she trudged up the stairs and frowned. Feeding Jackson meant dealing with 'Rique and Chomsky, and dealing with them, meant Jackson would try and strangle one of them like he did his toys, also meaning that she'd either have to use the armor for what it wasn't meant for, or wait until Jackson got bored.

Alexander loved him too, she'd seen him with their youngest brother, and they were always like two peas in a pod, Alexander with blue eyes and Jackson with brown. But for some reason, he never took responsibility for him when he had to, leaving Elisia to pick up the slack.

Don't get her wrong, she loved her little brother. Absolutely adored him, she had to remind herself as she passed by the family photos on the wall. The picture she liked the most was the prom photo that hung near Jim and Claire's room, while old, charming. As you moved further down the hall, there were additions, including a few pregnancy photos, but then Alex was added at maybe a year old, sitting on Jim's lap while Claire stood behind them. Then, she had been added, sitting on her mother's lap as Jim sat next to them with a toddler Alex on his lap, another with her innocently sitting with Alex, her curiously looking at the camera and Alex with a giant smile on his face. There were other photos she loved, most being them hanging around their doors, but next to the newest addition's room, was a recent photo taken just a few weeks ago, a collection instead of one.

The first being the family photo, Jim and Claire on the outside with Alexander on her left with Jim and her on the right with Claire, Jackson in the middle, being held by both siblings in tandem. The second one being one with his parents, Claire holding their supposedly last child (Alexander had been an accident, Elisia had been slightly planned but Jackson came without warning), Jim behind them, and the last two being sibling photos. Alexander had been holding him a bit haphazardly, by that time Jackson was getting fussy for having to sit still so long, and the second being her and Jackson, as he'd calmed down a bit by the time he got to her. It had been a wonderful picture day in all, as she'd carried him all the way home.

Shaking her head, she remembered that she was here for a reason. Cracking open the door, she found a better scene than earlier, only the lamp on as the stars from the nightlight flittered around the room slowly. Jackson must've known she was here, because his eyes were open, searching for her before they landed on her, gurgling and smiling toothlessly.

"'Rique, I know you're there." She said, picking up her younger brother. It took a moment, but the changeling eventually appeared, crawling out from underneath the crib. Jackson gave him a gummy smile, as he cooed at the small, green changeling. "Have you been playing with him again?"

"No."

"'Rique, he's never awake by now. You must've kept him awake." She deadpanned, as 'Rique followed her back down the stairs and out of the room. "I should know, Chomsky's at Uncle Toby's right now."

He stayed silent for a bit before responding at the foot of the stairs. "Maybe? I was just playin' with the little bugga', he loves me."

"It's after seven, 'Rique, you know the rules." She responded, heading to the kitchen before imagining sending lasers through her older brother's head for this. "What would mom do if she knew you were keeping her precious Jackson awake after hours?"

'Rique shuddered. They both knew the rules, Jackson was supposed to be asleep by six-thirty, seven at the latest, and one feeding was scheduled half an hour later. If he didn't, he'd be awake throughout the night, and because Elisia's room was right next to the nursery and Jim and Claire's was across from it, the little changeling often got in trouble for his misplaced love for the youngest Lake-Nunez. "You're probably right. But he's just so cute, Lisia. Sometimes I can't help myself."

"Help yourself during the day. I'm sure he'd love to play with you when he's supposed to be awake." She says, as she warms a bottle. Touching it lightly once it's done, she shifts the baby in her arms as he suckles on the bottle, 'Rique leaping up onto the kitchen counter.

"I like all of my fingahs and toes, Lisia." He says, as she rolls her eyes. She's fully aware of Jackson's stranger tendencies, and often they made her and Alexander laugh. Though, the changeling didn't think so, clearly. "If he's tired, he can't bite 'em off!"

"Jackson doesn't have any teeth, 'Rique." She responded, looking down at her baby brother, then looking at the offending extremities on the changeling. "He can't bite your toes off."

"You don't know that!" 

"Sure I don't, 'Rique. It's not like he's  _my_  brother or anything."

"I'm serious!"

In reality, she knew she was right. If Jackson could barely eat solid food yet, there was no way he was biting through a changeling's rough skin. She couldn't figure why 'Rique was such good 'friends' with Jackson, but they'd bonded nearly immediatly after Claire and Jim had brought him home. Putting the now-empty bottle down, she gave 'Rique a look that said 'stay down here or face the consequences', and went back upstairs to put her brother down. Out of spite for the bothersome changeling, she playfully ran a finger over her brother's gums. No teeth yet, no worries for 'Rique. He giggled afterwards, smiling at his older sister. Elisia absolutely adored her youngest brother, and softly put him down after a lullaby. He wasn't sleep when she left him, but she was sure he would be eventually. As long as 'Rique also left him alone.

But, little after she went to sleep, the amulet had other plans. Something dark was lurking among the trees, the wind blowing the trees back and forth. The family was asleep by now, but a dark troll stared up at the house, specifically where he could sense the amulet inside.

Little did Elisia know, this was the last time she'd see Jackson or Alexander for a while, and the last time she'd see Jim and Claire the way that she knew them.

 

 


	3. 0.2 ( past selves )

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something weird is going on, but Elisia isn't sure what is nagging at her.

_"Don't look back, that is not where you are going."_

Elisia woke up in a cold sweat. She was not where she had originally been, underneath the bridge in Arcadia. Instead, it was bright, the sun high in the sky as she jolted awake. Rather tired and no longer in her troll armor, she counted one lucky blessing that she still had her bag, if not badly ragged through all the battles it had seen, it sat a few feet away from her. Pulling herself to her feet, she picked it and some of her scattered belongings up.

But as she hefted it onto her shoulder, two things happened simutaneously. Well, three in fact.

One, she hissed in pain, realizing that even though she had been...teleported or something, all of her injuries were still present. And because of adrenaline, she also realized there were a lot of  _other_  injuries she hadn't been aware of while fighting Dr. Talamantes. The weight of the bag, being full of textbooks and she prayed to God also her amulet, came down on her shoulders hard as she almost fell again, her shoulder feeling like it was about to pop itself out of it's socket.

Second, a shrill bell rang. She didn't immediatly recognize it, dealing with the first problem of the day. However, this being the third thing, her heart dropped once she realized where she was.

She had fallen, or per se been brought to the courtyard of Arcadia High. The new school she'd only been attending for a few months since the school year began, but had been to many times because of her brother's soccer games. And, she had woken up on the grass, a small mercy and problem, a cushion for her back but also staining the back of her white shirt.

Elisia's first instinct was to run, as she always did from Rachelle Garcia, her new school bully who didn't exactly love that the lanky girl got attention from the general student body from a) being the soccer superstar Alexander Lake-Nunez's little sister or b) being Jim Lake and Claire Nunez's daughter. Either way, both warranted a quick escape, because Rachelle was, consequently, on the track team, while Elisia remained sportless.

Her lanky legs could only take her so far, often to her next classroom, which she usually took refuge in.

If it was a passing period, as originally assumed, that meant there were five minutes to her next class, and a minute wasted thinking about where her dark-haired bully was. No matter that. But, everything was blurry as she blinked away stars, pushing one foot in front of the other almost drunkenly. Every step taken she earned excrutiating pain on her left ankle, probably from when she'd been thrown by Dr. Talamantes. Students gave her odd looks, and she returned them. She was by no means hugely popular, but she always had an idea of the students at the small town school.

These, didn't look familiar at all.

If anything, it was like being dropped in a school of strangers. Lifting her head to the blurry banner, she assumed it read 2043, as always, but instead, as her vision cleared for a moment, she stopped in the middle of the foot traffic and rubbed her eyes clear. No, it read 2018, which she found strange. Class of 2018, it read, in bold blue letters. Most likely for the seniors, but that meant this year was 2018.

Not twenty five years forward, 2043.

She paused for a moment more, heading past the colbalt blue lockers. Maybe she really was delirious, maybe going to the nurse for a while would help. A nice relaxing half an hour, not being hunted down by vengeful trolls, changelings and goblins alike might fix her brain.

Stopping in the shade next to said lockers, she unzipped her bag and pulled out her phone. The screen was cracked, she quickly uttered a few words Alex and her parents would kill her if she said around Jackson, and flashed it on. The background photo of her and her brothers at a picnic flickered on, but it was now going from an innocent picture to glitching beyond recognition. It stayed that way, though the time and date seemed relatively believable.

It was 1:00 p.m, meaning A lunch was ending and B lunch was starting. Also meaning, Elisia had about forty-five minutes to figure out where she was and why it said 'Class of 2018', two years before her parents' graduation, instead of 'Class of 2043', Alex's graduating class.

However, going anywhere right now seemed like a struggle. Exhaustion from the night past was setting in, her body probably confused why it wasn't sleeping right now. Her head was throbbing, her fingers and toes seemed to prickling with unseen daggers, and her ankle was most definitely _not_  in the right position right now.

It didn't help it felt like it was sweltering out right now either, but that could just be her body playing tricks on her.  _Definitely would not be the first time_ , she thought as she unstuck herself from her t-shirt.

"It's not even that big of a deal, Tobes."

Her ears pricked up at the sound of the nickname her father often had for her uncle. Which was odd, why would he be here at one in the afternoon? And why was his voice pitched so high? Except for most school videos, it never sounded like that at home.

Shuffling her way closer to where the voice had come from, she stopped on the corner of one row of lockers. It should've been where her locker was, plain unlike some other students but with a white anchor keychain hanging around the lock. Elisia couldn't spot it immediatly, but then again everything looked like moving blobs unless she focused heavily on it.

Some other words were said that she couldn't make out, but she blinked again and could make out what she assumed to be both her uncle, Tobias, and father, Jim?

That wasn't right.

Another wordy exchange was made, that Elisia couldn't make out, before Toby left. Jim went right, he went left. Deciding she was better off with her backpack instead of without, she quickly, or at least attempted to be quick, headed after the blue wearing boy. He was a good thirty paces of so in front of her, as not to gain any suspicion, she stopped a few times.

Eventually, a small, but flawed, plan was made. She needed to ask this younger version of her father what in God's name was going on, and how to get back to where she was previously. If this were an illusion, that would mean her body was still with Dr. Talamantes, ravaged and probably dead.

She prayed to whatever God that was out there that she wasn't.

Eventually, she cornered him in front of the boys locker room. If it was like her usual day, and other than being probably in the past (if that made any amount of sense), there was no reason for anyone to be in either of the locker rooms, also meaning, she could ask him any questions, TrollHunter or timeline related and no one would have it on video. However, she was also still a bit unclear on whether he even was the trollhunter yet, she been told stories, but other than that, it was just 'middle of sophomore year'.

Curse her parents and unreliable dates and times.

She'd have to be quick though, Toby could be anywhere, and while this part of school was less crowded, people would still find it weird if a student was pushed into a locker room by a complete stranger. She just had to time it right so they didn't both go flying into the brick wall.

God, this day was only getting worse.

Letting her one good foot carry her, she more hobbled than ran passing by Jim with him only turning in confusion before pulling him inside. Breathing hard, it was difficult to keep a grasp on the back of his jacket, letting him go once she stood against the door.

"For the gl-"

"Don't say it! I'm not here to hurt you anyways." She said quickly, chucking a stray t-shirt from the ground at him. He lowered the amulet, slowly. She could imagine he didn't trust her, she had just yanked him by the back of his shirt into a dark locker room. Being a trollhunter most likely made him naturally jumpy anyways. Digging into her backpack, as he slowly backed further into the locker room, she nearly smiled at the feeling of the cool metal in her palm, pulling the lavender amulet out to show the younger, teenage version of her father. "I'm just like you, see?"

He first looked from her to the identical amulet in his own hand. It, unlike hers, pulsated blue.

"You're a...trollhunter, just like me?" He asked tentatively, taking a step towards her. "Isn't there only one?"

"There is." She responds. Her head is going woozy again, and Jim is going in and out of focus with it. She just needs to focus for a bit longer, and she can hide out in one of the lockers until school is over and she can wander her way home.

If home even exists here.

"I don't think I'm from here." She says slowly, the words feeling like sandpaper on her dry throat as they come up in waves, almost stumbling without even mo. "I'm not from here. If you're the trollhunter in this...timeline or whatnot, I need you to get me to troll market. Someone there might know what's going on."

"Going on? Is there something happening with Gunmar, or?" Jim asks cautiously, a questioning and serious look crossing his face. "Is that why you're here?"

"I...I don't know. Nothing is as it seems, if the banner is right, I'm from twenty-five years in the future." She answers, running a shaky hand through her hair. "It may seem crazy but I think that I've been thrown into the past."

"Good for you, I've heard craz-" Jim was fully out of focus now, just being little more than a blue blob. She couldn't make out anything he said afterward, temples pulsating and nausea growing. She could barely take in anything that was happening as she fell to her knees, scraping the skin beneath the denim as her beanie fell off. Jim was by her side at a near instant as everything finally went black, her being unable to pick herself up afterwards.

She was out like a light, amulet tumbling out of hand and clinking on the concrete floor, as she just nearly hit her head on a nearby bench. The last thing she saw was Jim leaving, most likely trying to find help as the cold of the floor invaded her body.

_"Do not wait for Gareth to find you, trollhunter. Find him first."_

 


	4. 0.3 ( letting go )

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elisia is brought to a hospital, where she makes an odd encounter with someone she knows.

_"Time isn't the main thing, it is the only thing."_

Elisia wasn't sure how much time had passed when she came to. She'd had flashes of what she assumed had happened while she was out, including a short ambulance ride that she would've skipped should her subconciousness have understood her, but the blinking lights and frantic doctors and nurses kept her from that. But other than that, she was alone with her thoughts for a while. At least more comfortable than she had been in the last few hours, being unable to feel anything and drifting off into somewhat silent unconciousness.

_"Betsy?" Out of the darkness of her dreamlike state, Elisia could see her friend's stature slowly walk out, armor donned on and weapon still in hand as Brianna called for her sister. Her breath hitched, she knew how this was going to end already._

_"Lisa where is she?" Brianna asked, just barely dragging the age-old weapon to where Elisia stood, or rather, kneeled. "Where is she?" She asks, frantic now._

_"I don't know! She was just here a minute ago!" Elisia responds, dropping her sword as it clatters to the ground. Her hair has fallen into her face, obscuring the dark room from view. Pushing it back, she looks around herself, even though she's very sure she knows where she is._

_Bri would never want to know the truth._

_No one would ever want to know the untimely truth._

_"You mean you lost her?!" She asked, taking a fistful of hair in panic._

_"No, I'm saying I don't know where she went!" Elisia responded, as her vision blurred as she slowly got more and more panicky, anxiety and heart rate rising with every accusiation. Not her Betsy, not Beatrice._

_"You lost my sister! How could you!?" Brianna fades into darkness as she tries to reach out to her retreating friend._

"I didn't lose her!" Elisia says with a scratchy throat as she bolts up, awake. Brianna is nowhere to be seen, instead a stark white hospital room replacing her and the darkness. At least her brain can now register that she is awake and now able to register that it is no longer in a dreamlike state. Trying to calm her racing heart, she's is able to realize it's now either morning or late day. Elisia would be lying if she said she wasn't somewhat afraid that this might be a dream too. If Dr. Talamantes was still here and had his license, she'd throw a fit. And maybe a sword.

But also, that was a weird dream she had just had. It was like she'd had a vision or something, of her father's school at one point. More trollish magic at work she assumed. Trickster trolls weren't uncommon by any means, she had run into them before as a child. However, this was just weird. It had seemed so real, like she had actually been there.

What was also weird was that her parents weren't here. Not that they weren't ever busy, they usually were. Both as emissaries to the troll civilization and then they also held down normal jobs. On any given night, she and Alex could be making microwave dinners (Alex could cook, but since the last time he'd set off the fire alarm trying to make chicken of all things, he didn't try again), but family dinners were common.

The better question was where her grandmother was. If her parents or Alex couldn't be there with her, she usually was. However, with what happened recently she could understand why.

Pulling herself up from her spot lazily, she crawled over to the bottom of the bed, where the patient report usually hung on a clipboard. Flipping herself over a bit, she unhooked it and was about to go about her business. Usually she knew how to fill in some of the spots on the health report, the ones that doctors would forget, or that her grandmother would leave blank by accident. She'd been here enough times that this was common. Alex was in the hospital sometimes, so she often did those as well.

Her heart nearly stopped as she read the first few lines. Her name was empty, birth date and age. Unusual, her grandmother always filled that in. Not to mention her previous conditions (asthma as a child) were missing and weight and height were all empty.. The only things filled in were the date, her blood pressure, reasoning for being in the ward (passing out, supposedly from exhaustion and low blood content) and some other whatnot things.

The date read something along the lines of sometime during spring, and that considerably frustrating date, 2018. But how? It was real, it was scrawled in blue pen. It wasn't April yet, so no one was playing tricks on her. But if they weren't, then why? Taking a scan of the room, she took a sigh of relief, as she could see her bag had also been left in the room, taking refuge in a waiting chair. She frowned once she saw her amulet pulsating darkly. That usually happened when it decided to play tricks on her. But at the same time, this didn't seem like something it would do.

Just as she was beginning to put pen to paper and fill in the missing boxes, the door creaked open. A doctor most likely doing their rounds. However, she was instead faced with her grandmother, but a much, much younger version of her.

Something was most definitely not right.

"Those are supposed to be filled out by your doctor." She said kindly, pushing her glasses back up the bridge of her nose. She took the clipboard and corresponding pen back with her and hung it loosely on the end of the bed. "If you're awake like this, that probably means you can be discharged soon. However, I will need to ask you a few questions, since we know next to nothing about you."

Elisia had the mind to say that she was going to fill it out anyways, but quickly realized she'd need to be a bit sneakier than usual. If this really was 2018, and she supposed she'd accept that she was no longer in her timeline (not the strangest thing she'd had to deal with in her minimal 14 years of life) she have to find some excuses for why she had no guardians (they weren't even together yet), and no record of her ever existing (she wasn't even born yet). "Got it."

"Well," she picked up the clipboard, probably realizing she was going to need it anyway, and poised the pen, ready to write, "Name?"

"Eliza."

"Last name?"

That was tough, as Elisia nearly had responded with her usual surname, Lake-Nunez. "Terranova."

"Age?"

"14 and a half."

"Birthday?"

"May 11th."

And back and forth they went, Elisia, or now Eliza Terranova, answered questions. Some were easy to fake, like where she went to school at (Arcadia High, new transfer for the second term) and what her parents were like and where they were (Out of town for the week, entrusted to her older brother. All the truth, of course she also didn't say her brother wasn't legally an adult yet and that she had a baby in the house as well but...). Others were harder, like where she lived (Also Arcadia, but in a new development that hadn't been built yet) and why she was in the hospital. (From being attacked and mortally wounded by a changeling that worked in this very hospital two decades from now)

"I skateboard. Semi-professionally. Out of town."

"Skateboard?" Dr. Lake gave her an incredulous look. "With the injuries you sustained, I doubt you were skateboarding to that degree."

"I doesn't hurt that much." She says, shrugging.

"That's primarily because you're on anesthesia right now." She points her pen to the needle that's still in her arm, that Elisia promptly wiggles from it's stand next to her bed. "You broke a rib, sprained your left ankle, had a mild concussion and lost nearly two pints of blood. You've been out for the last three days."

Elisia's eyes go wide, holding a hand to her chest, where she feel a bandage wrapped around her tightly. Her ankle does feel strangely stiff, and there's a bandage around her head as well. She nearly scoffs and says it'll all be healed in a few days before remembering Blinky and Argh don't know her yet and her damage prone living won't be sustained very well in this timeline. "Yeah, well...didn't end well?"

"That sounds more like a question than a statement, Miss Terranova." Dr. Lake responded, raising any eyebrow.

"Extreme sports that I shouldn't be participating in?" She says, a slight question edge still in her voice, but Dr. Lake seems to accept that answer, begrudingly.

"How did you go from extreme sports to being with my son in the men's locker room?" She asks. Elisia's beginning to sweat, lying was never her forte. It seemed she was weaving herself further and further into the web of lies and had just gotten stuck among the webs.

Before she could answer, however, another nurse came in, yelling something about another emergency patient. Dr. Lake gave her one last look before dashing out of the room. A sigh of relief escaped her, she wouldn't have to give an answer for now, and hopefully she'd get discharged before the question was asked again.

Crawling over to the edge of the bed and reaching over the chair holding her bag (and now life if she couldn't get back to her timeline for the time being), she found the IV was yanking itself from the machine as she pulled the tube taut. Her hand grazed the bag's leather material and she almost had grabbed the loop at the top before the door creaked open again. That set off a storm of actions as she fell to the ground in a heap, pulling the IV out and spurting blood onto her gown. It didn't help the chair teetered, tottered and then fell over on it's side, the contents of her bag going flying.

Groaning, someone ran over to help her. Dr. Lake had been right, she sustained more injuries than she'd originally assumed. They helped her to her feet as she checked for any other injuries as she sat down.

Faced yet again with the one and only Jim Lake Junior, she held back an intentional groan. She had originally been trying to get her amulet and see whether it would function any better than earlier in the previously empty hospital room, but just as she made a grab for it after realizing she was fine for the moment, he'd bent down and picked it up first.

"Yours?" He asks, looking from it to her.

"Unless you don't have yours on you, I'm assuming yes." She says, taking it out of his hand, without ever taking her eyes off him. It's warm, a dark purple but it lights up for a moment once she takes it from him.

"Well, since our first meeting didn't go as planned..." He scratches the back of his neck before holding out a hand, "Jim Lake Junior."

"Elisia." She responds, at the last moment choosing not to use the fake name or her real name, shaking his hand. "Now, I'm going to need your help."

**____________**

**Finally another chapter. It's been in my drafts for so long but I was busy (got distracted) this week, so it's finally done. More to come soon and to be updated in tandem with The Coven.**

**-Lani**


	5. 0.4 ( becoming )

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elisia makes a discovery, returning to a childhood home that isn't the same as how she left it, with a troll in the basement.

_"Time is subjective, rather than relative."_

"I'm not sure I want to stay down here, Jim." Elisia said, crossing her arms as Draal gave her an odd but judgemental look as he went about his business. "Can't I stay upstairs during the day?"

"I guess you can?" He turns his statement into a question as she takes in her surroundings. Junky, but not uninhabitable, much like her own basement. He hands her a sleeping bag, and she takes the roll from him. "But if someone sees you wandering around during the day, they'll tell my mom. How did you get discharged from the hospital anyways?"

That was a very good question, with a very strange answer. The truth was that inside the bag she'd been trying to grab, there were a few materials the others (meaning mainly Beatrice and sometimes Alexander)  typically used for spellcasting and other experiments and whatnot. Elisia never paid much attention to what they were trying to do half the time, but a few easy 'fake out' spells she knew how to do. What she had done to her grandmother was only a basic rememberance spell, switching out her age and birthdate to something older so that she could be released faster, as well as changing the photo that went with the patient report once she left the premises. Because no one had any report of seeing her, she changed into her clothes from yesterday and left with Jim.

Albeit hobbling along back with him after Dr. Lake dropped them off near the house (she seemed to have questions, but dropped her off at a house Elisia claimed to be hers) but she was now sitting the dark and musty basement. She absolutely refused to stay here any longer either. Elisia just hoped this was some lucid dream and she'd wake up in the hospital, in her timeline. Hopefully, also not dead.

"Nothing that would hurt her." She says finally after some thought, unrolling the musty sleeping bag and giving it a disgusted look, not giving Jim a second look. "She might be unable to remember me in general though."

He seemed to want to continue, but decided otherwise.

"Either way, you'd have to stay here with Draal all day, or you'd have to go to school with me." Jim offers. "I don't really like school either, but I think you're better off there instead of here."

"How do you know that?" She asked, deliberating the idea. She did not want to go to school, especially in her parent's timeline. Both because she just didn't like school, plus half the teachers she'd be taught by would be dead or just...old in her timeline. She shivered at the thought. Everyone would be twenty-five years younger than they were in her timeline. "I could be better off here than there, in case-"

"In case?" Jim asked, pausing by the staircase.

"Just in case something bad happens there and something from my timeline threatens your school is all." She shrugged as Draal and Jim shared a knowing look. She couldn't figure at what point she was in time, before or after Toby was aware of the amulet, before or after Claire was aware either. That could put a jagged rock in the stream of things.

She also felt there was something else major she was forgetting, and couldn't put her finger on it as she walked upstairs with Jim. "I guess you can stay here for today, but you have to stay in the basement or with Draal in TrollMarket."

"Interesting thought. Where are you going anyway? Isn't it the weekend?" Elisia was beginning to jumble her days together, she had no idea what day of the week it was, but considering Jim hadn't raced off to school, she figured it was a day off or the weekend.

"Too many questions. You still have a lot of explaining to do." Jim responded, the amulet felt heavier in her sweater pocket as he said that, the necklace around her neck nearly choking her.

"Fine. Ask away. But can I please stay out of this dusty basement first?" Her stomach growled, almost in agreement. After all the adrenaline died down, she was actually starving. They'd fed her after she woke up in the hospital of course, but now she was just hungry. By where the sun was in the sky, she figured it was still mid-afternoon.

Installed at the kitchen counter fifteen minutes later finishing off a sandwich, he sat down next to her. "First question, what even is your real name then, if you had my mom forget you entirely?"

"I go by Lisa, my name is Elisia, I told you that before I passed out." She remembers, swallowing the lump in her throat both metaphorically and literally, continuing. "Before you ask what my last name is, I'm not going to tell you."

"I figure it isn't whatever you gave my mom then?" He asked. She nodded and he sighed. "How do I even know you aren't a changeling or something then?"

"I'd say trust me, but considering the world we live in, I figure I shouldn't." She responded. "Here."

Pulling out the amulet from her jacket pocket, it glowed dully as she pushed it over to Jim. "My amulet has been a little wonky lately. I don't know how much more proof you need."

"How do I know it's not a fake?"

"Well no one knows everything, Lake." She said. "It's 2018 isn't it?"

"Yeah, why?" He asks, taking her plate and putting it in the sink.

"Well, where I come from, it's twenty five years from now." She exaggerated with hand movements. "I have the amulet because 'duh' you don't have it anymore."

"Start from the beginning then, we have a bit before I need to be anywhere."

_________________

"How could you let her out of your sight, Alexander Diego Lake-Nunez!?"

"I don't know mom! Okay?! I can't be everywhere at once!" That's mildly a lie, with the staff he can teleport back and forth, making him the Trollhunters signature healer and transporter.

_He wasn't fast enough._

"You're the oldest, Alexander. You're supposed to watch your younger sister."

"I get that dad. I understand."

 _"Do you, do you really Alexander?!"_  Claire is nearly screeching at this point, crying herself in frustration, Jackson crying in Jim's arms as Alexander tugs his hair, sitting on the couch as his parents stare down at him judgementally. First Beatrice, and now his own sister? Blood goblins across town, and then finding her sweatshirt in the aqueducts? Then the ever looming threat of Gareth coming from the Darklands.

He was too late, again.

_Maybe this is why the amulet didn't want him._

_He wasn't enough._

_He was never enough._

"Jesucristo!" Claire seems to be done, cursing in Spanish as she bolts upstairs. Jim tends to Jackson as they both walk away from their son, still decked out in Trollhunter armor. He can't bring himself to get up, tears slyly making their way out of his colbalt blue eyes.

_You weren't enough for the amulet, what makes you think you were enough for this?_

_You're not special Alexander._

_Give._

**_Up._ **


	6. 0.5 ( finite )

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arcadia Oaks is unforgiving in more ways than one, but having to be the new kid twice?

_"Every second is of infinite value"_

Elisia couldn't help but feel self-conscious as she walked beside Jim after arriving to Arcadia Oaks, looking skeptically around the school. This was her school of course, but not  _'her'_  school. She had to keep reminding herself she couldn't turn around and see the identical but fraternal Domzalski twins barreling up to her, or her distant but protective brother, or even the strangely quiet and per se, out of this world Jeniah when she showed up to school. In the most literal meaning of the word, she was alone.

It made her uncomfortable to say the least, having to take an oversized bike from Toby's and ride it to school, not to mention the oversized clothes both boys had share with her. Both deemed wearing a set of clothes for two days without wash was a big no. Which is why she was wearing a bulky yellow button down and her own ripped jeans because neither boy shared the same jeans size with her and she didn't want to try for that look either.

Curse her bad luck.

"I think you probably have to get signed in before school starts right?" Jim asked, knocking her from her thoughts. "Or do you have another spell for that?"

"Don't patronize me, Lake." She said, crossing her arms. It baffled her that spells weren't widely used between the Trollhunters already, but Jim seemed to find what seemed like every opportunity to try and make note of the strange spells they were doing in her timeline over the weekend. Grumbling, she sighed. "However, I do."

He chuckled lightly at her response. "Is this school much different than yours?"

"Not really." Elisia gives a look around as she says this, re-adjusting her bookbag straps. "It's only twenty-five years, not a millenia." And she realizes that she's halfway right, the school looks exactly how she left it, as she glances to her phone and back to Jim as they continue walking. "There are a few new buildings here and there, like how they added another building back there," she responded, pointing in front of them, "they re-did the lockers a few years ago, and planted a bunch of new desert flowers in front of the school because of the drought."

Jim seemed puzzled, maybe trying to imagine what she had just said, though nodded. "You keep looking at your phone, are you expecting a call or something?"

"Not exactly." In all honesty, she wasn't. Well, she kind of was, as she sighed in defeat at the unanswered calls and undelievered texts. "I'm trying to get in contact with my older brother. But I don't think his number exists yet, though it's in my phone." She frowns at the soccer photo of her brother, his dark hair playing hide and seek with his brown eyes. Why wasn't he picking up? It wasn't like Alexander to ignore her calls.

But he hadn't even been born in this timeline.

That was beginning to worry her. This was real, she was actually in 2018 with no real way of getting out or returning home. She was completely cut off from her immediate family and friends. There was no way to contact him.

"I wouldn't expect him to at this point." She stuffed her phone in her back pocket, struggling to put a matching smile on her face. Giving up, she just looked away from Jim. "Guess I'm really stuck here, huh?"

"Seems like it." He doesn't try to change her mind, which only makes her lose more hope. "Hey, don't look so down, I'm sure my friends Blinky or Aaargh will be able to find something to get you back."

"Sure." The bell rang just as she finished that thought and she groaned inwardly, fishing out the schedule from her bag the office had given her reluctantly after she'd given them her information. She was praying to whatever God that was out there they wouldn't find anything that fishy on it, including the fact her ID was dated twenty five years from now or that she had no state records. Rememberance spells, really she should've paid more attention when Betsy and Blinky were trying to teach her back in grade school.

"Hey, if you need help getting around, just find me or Tobes-"

"Jim, don't forget I've been here before. I go to this school just as much as you do." She responded, giving him a knowing look he rolled his eyes at. Just before he walked off, she sheepishly turned around. "But, I'm still going home with you after school, right?"

"You should be?" He asked-responded, rubbing the back of his neck. "See you!"

____________

Well, Spanish nearly bored Elisia to an early grave in any timeline. If Dr. Talamantes didn't kill her first, Senor Uhl would. Truly, as she filled out the worksheet, she shouldn't even be in this class, but without a previous school's grade report, it was irrelevant. Dotting off another 'i', she chuckled to herself. 

Funny to think the person she sat behind taught her all of the language she'd ever know.

Looking up for a moment, she ducked back down, checking her phone again. 2:01, almost the end of school. One more period before she could explore this timeline's TrollMarket. Still no notifications though...

"Miss Terranova." That nearly made her jump (you'd really think her reflexes would be better after all these years), dropping her phone onto the desk in shock and mild fear as she looked up into the unforgiving face of her Spanish teacher. "You may be new to our school, but I'm sure you've read the school's phone policy." She groaned outwardly this time as Senor Uhl picked it up, pocketing it. "You will be able to get it back at the end of the day."

Now phoneless, she would have to muster the strength to continue on throughout the next period without the one thing that even kept her mildly sane. It had been more than a week, but she was homesick. She was in dire need to return home, preferably yesterday. But, the class dragged on unforgivably, and by the minute looking at the conjugations of words here and there was beginning to make her head spin as she fingered the gems hanging around her neck.

"Looking a little frazzled there." Someone said as she packed up her materials at the end of class, fingering the amulet before dropping it into her backpack before anyone could see it. "He never takes it for long, you'll get it back no problem, it's only one period anyways."

"Thanks, that's pretty reassuring." She shuffled her backpack on, still wincing at her previous injuries before looking up at the person who was talking to her. That, being Claire who gave her a smile as she adjusted her own messenger bag. "Claire, right?"

"Yep. And you're Eliza, right?" She asked, as Elisia winced at the name she'd given the school. At this point, only Jim and Toby knew her real name. Having her much younger mother call her it, struck a nerve.

"That's what's written on my birth certificate." She responded, lying through her teeth, with a nervous smile. "What do you have next? I have history with a...Strickler?"

"Same here." She answered. "He's not my favorite, but I have to take it, y'know?"

"Y-yeah." The walk over the classroom wasn't far and was relatively quiet, Claire answering some of her other questions she came up with to keep the conversation going. Claire continued answering wholeheartedly with every school-related question she asked before they walked into the classroom. She breathed a sigh of relief once she saw not only Jim, but also Toby were in this class. Good, in case she needed to recap with him about anything troll-related at the end of the school day.

_No, she couldn't think she'd be here long enough to start a routine like that. She couldn't._

Taking a seat in the back, she sat quietly. It was going to be a long enough day without a class she hated and rarely was able to understand, even on a good day. But, what was odder was that she was sure she'd heard the name Strickler prior to today, but wasn't sure in which conotation.

"How're you holding up, ET?" Toby asked, walking up to her desk before the bell rang. "Adjusting alright?"

"ET?" Elisia was a bit confused at the new nickname, she didn't resemble the creature from the movies in the slightest, at least, she didn't think so. "I'm not an alien, not like-" She caught herself before saying Aja's name. She didn't think Aja or Krel were even here yet, at least, she hadn't seen them around the school yet. Better not to even risk it. "Y'know, an alien."

_Nice save, Lake-Nunez._

She patted herself on the back for that one.

He shrugged in response. "ET because y'know, Eliza Terranova and all? Never mind, anyways, the whole 'I'm in the past thing'?"

"Not like I've faded to dust yet, so I think I'll be alright, Toby." She responded, brushing her hair to the side as she gave him a forced smile. "Not like you guys changed your curriculum as much as you'd think in twenty-five years."  _Your daughter also taught me most of any algebra I'd ever need to know._

"The future's really wild isn't it?" Toby asked. "You'll have to tell me about it. I want to know everything!"

"Got it, TD." She said as the bell rung, students beginning to shift around and take their seats, an older teacher entering the room and poising himself at the chalkboard, ready to write. But, as his gaze flies over everyone, it zeroes in on her, and she sighs, knowing she's about to have to introduce herself to everyone in class  _again._

"Miss Terranova?"


End file.
